Pin Protector for Light Bulbs

ABSTRACT

The invention discloses a pin protector for protecting pins of light bulbs from damage during transportation. The protector is made of plastic and includes a top having at least one recessed hole for inserting pins of light bulbs into, a bottom and a surrounding side structure. This particular feature mechanically protects the pins when there is an external force.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Provisional application No. 61/842,376, filed on Jul. 2, 2013

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pin protector for protecting pins of light bulbs from damage during transportation. In particular, the pin protector made of plastic material includes a top having at least one recessed hole for inserting pins of light bulbs into, a bottom and a surrounding side structure. The pins of light bulbs will be inserted into holes of pin protector and protected from damage by external force during transportation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Light bulbs, such as LED/fluorescent tubes and LED/CFL bulbs, comprise a plurality of pins on a first end and/or a second end. The pins constitute as mechanical parts to install the light bulbs and electrical parts to conduct electricity. A damaged pin might lead to potential safety issue to end user, or malfunction of the whole light bulb. However these pins are easy to be damaged during transportation when they are exposed to external force or not well protected. To overcome the said issue, the inventor proposes a solution as described below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a pin protector which is simple in structure, cost effective and easy to use. The pin protector has a top having at least one recessed hole for inserting pins of light bulbs into, a bottom and a surrounding side structure. The pin protector is made of plastic material and resistant to external force. Since the pin protector is made of plastic material, the unit cost of pin protector is a very small fraction of light bulb cost.

The pins of light bulbs can be easily inserted into holes of the pin protector by pushing with just one finger and removed off pins by pulling with just two fingers.

These and other aspects of the invention are described in the detailed description of the invention and claimed in the claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a pin protector with two holes;

FIG. 2 is the top view of the pin protector;

FIG. 3 is bottom view of the pin protector,

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are cross sectional views of the pin protector,

FIG. 5 shows some examples of tops and corresponding bottoms of the pin protector;

FIG. 6 is an embodiment showing a pin protector with two holes attached to a linear LED tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, this embodiment is provided so that this application will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the true scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present inventive subject matter. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”.

It will be further understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first region/layer could be termed a second region/layer, and, similarly, a second region/layer could be termed a first region/layer without departing from the teachings of the disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive subject matter belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present application, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The present invention relates to a pin protector for protecting pins of light bulbs. The light bulbs may be incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, linear fluorescent lamps, LED bulbs or any other bulbs now known or later developed. The light bulbs have at least one base which might further have one pin, two pins, four pins.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, 4 a and 4 b, the pin protector 1 is made of plastic material and comprises a top 10, a bottom 13 and a surrounding side structure 12. At least one hole 11 are recessed into top 10. Top 10 and bottom 13 are provided in the same shape and dimension. Surrounding side structure 12 extends from top 10 to bottom 13.

FIG. 5 shows various shapes of top 10 and bottom 13 including rectangle top 10 and rectangle bottom 13, square top 15 and square bottom 16, circular top 17 and circular bottom 18, cross top 19 and cross bottom 20, hexagonal top 21 and hexagonal bottom 22, and triangle top 23 and triangle bottom 24.

FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment, pin protectors 1 are used to protect a linear LED tube 2. A linear LED tube 2 comprises a linear structure 25, and two end caps 26 which further have a plastic part 27 and two pins 28. The linear structure 25 has a first end and a second end. Each end is arranged with an end cap 26. The linear structure 25 extends between two end caps 26. In this embodiment, each end cap 26 is attached into holes 11 of a pin protector 1. 

1. A pin protector cap, for protecting a plurality of pins extending outwardly from an end portion of an illumination device, as a result of said pin protector cap being operatively disposed adjacent to an end face of the end portion of the illumination device from which the plurality of pins extend outwardly, comprising: a geometrically shaped, three-dimensional block having a top portion, a bottom portion, and side wall portions connecting said top portion to said bottom portion; and a plurality of holes recessed into said top portion of said pin protector cap block and extending downwardly into said pin protector cap block toward said bottom portion of said pin protector cap block, but not extending the entire depth of said pin protector cap block, such that each one of the plurality of pins, extending outwardly from the end portion of the illumination device, is individually accommodated within its own hole defined within said pin protector cap block, is entirely encased within said pin protector cap block, and does not protrude outwardly through said bottom portion of said pin protector cap.
 2. The pin protector cap of claim 1, wherein: said pin protector cap is fabricated from a plastic material.
 3. The pin protector cap of claim 1, wherein: said pin protector cap is used to protect pins of light bulbs by inserting the pins into said holes of the pin protector cap.
 4. The pin protector cap as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said geometrically shaped, three-dimensional block has a cross-sectional configuration which is selected from the group comprising that of a square, a rectangle, a circle, a triangle, an X, and a hexagon. 